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Large-Scale Simulations of the Two-Dimensional Melting of Hard Disks

C. H. Mak
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Abstract

Large-scale computer simulations involving more than a million particles have been performed to study the melting transition in a two-dimensional hard disk fluid. The van der Waals loop previously observed in the pressure-density relationship of smaller simulations is shown to be an artifact of finite-size effects. Together with a detailed scaling analysis of the bond orientation order, the new results provide compelling evidence for the Halperin-Nelson-Young picture. Scaling analysis of the translational order also yields a lower bound for the melting density that is much higher than previously thought.

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C. H. Mak. 2005-02-08. Large-Scale Simulations of the Two-Dimensional Melting of Hard Disks. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.73.065104

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